Groove Wear Maps the Death of a Letterpress Groove

Why it surfaced

Groove Wear treats letterpress maintenance like coastal fieldwork: a packing gauge replaces the thumbnail test, while Cape Fear humidity and Masonboro wind become part of the diagnosis. Its language—“Shine is furniture, not depth”—is unusually exact and strangely alive.

A Wilmington letterpress floor documents iron groove wear, salt-air damage, packing depth, and the moment a beloved type face should be recut or retired.